Sisterhood - Temptation Ch. 40

The thinner air that wafted across her body as she approached the pool spread a cool shiver across Katharina's sweating skin. But the sensation of coolness gradually ebbed away as a slow wisp of warm steam rose to meet her from the surface of the water. There was a curious moment of transition during which she still experienced vividly the contrast with the more intense suffocating heat of the sauna. She felt the air of the pool chamber and recognized its warmth, knew with a certain detachment that it was the same dense air that she had found so warm the last time she had entered, and knew that she was experiencing it as cooler than it was. But then the feeling waned and settled to a blanketing warmth, as if her body was quickly discarding its memory of the sauna.

Katharina looked across at Ivy with a smile and let go of Ivy's hand to step ahead into the pool. She experienced again the same fleeting cool contrast when the water enveloped her feet and then her calves, but by the time she was lunging forward off the submerged ledge and into the full depth of the water, it too was gone and she was bathed in a heat that felt as hot as she could stand without it being painful.

Katharina bent and dipped her shoulders beneath the surface, reaching down to swipe water under her armpits and then run her hands down across her breasts and stomach to between her legs, where she rubbed and rinsed away the sweat and what might have been some of the dried wetness of Shireen's pussy, or her saliva.

Katharina's attention sank into the details of her own body, its crevices and surface, and when she found that she thought to look up it seemed as if she had been absorbed in the task of washing herself for longer than had been necessary. When she did not see Ivy immediately, she turned her head sharply, suddenly concerned. But then she heard the peal of running water and the gasp and gulp of somebody drinking, and saw Ivy's slim figure in the steam, standing bent over and facing the wall beside the furthest of the arches that led into the sauna chamber.

Katharina waded back to the edge of the pool and slung her leg over the lip to climb out. Aware of the powerful echo that resounded against the far ceiling of the room, she whispered, "Ivy?"

The gulping breaths continued for a moment, then ceased with a sigh. Ivy stood as Katharina approached, and turned.

"Gah," Ivy swiped the back of her arm across her lips, "We'll, uh, still get a proper drink in a moment. I'm just fucking parched."

There was a low basin carved into one of the larger stones at the foot of the wall. It had the same simple shape and worn stonework that Katharina recalled from the crypt of the Great Hall, only here patchily replastered. Ivy bent at the waist again to put her head into the space of the basin. Her bob of damp hair fell about her face, obscuring it as she slurped from the slim jet of water within.

Katharina observed the back of Ivy's body. A little prickle of excitement rushed across the skin of Katharina's arms and shoulders when she realized that she could tell Ivy was hard again. There was a particular tightness to the smooth skin that encased Ivy's balls, holding them high up so that they stuck out a little behind her as she bent down. And above them the ridge of the very base of her dick was swollen firm.

Katharina stood behind Ivy and leaned over her, snuggling her body against Ivy's back. She reached under and found Ivy's breast, pressed her fingers carefully into its little layer of softness and shook it slowly, feeling its weight slung from side to side.

"Mm-hm Katja," Ivy gurgled, "You thirsty too? One moment."

Katharina ran her other hand along Ivy's flank and pressed her lips to Ivy's shoulder, kissing. "Yeah," she whispered idly.

With a twist that was at first gentle, then suddenly swifter, Ivy squirmed round free of Katharina's embrace and stood up, pushing Katharina upright by the shoulders. Then Ivy pushed herself up on the tips of her toes and thrust her pursed lips at Katharina's. After a startle, Katharina opened her mouth eagerly, a shudder of warmth coursing down through her core.

Katharina startled again when she felt a lukewarm squirt of water pushed into her mouth from between Ivy's lips. Katharina coughed and gulped some of it down, unable to prevent herself from sputtering with laughter. A trail of coolness escaped and spread down Katharina's cheek onto her neck. Ivy thrust her face forward again and sealed their lips together, letting a last trickle of thicker water or something more like diluted saliva spread from her mouth into Katharina's.

Katharina held Ivy and leaned into the kiss. Her breathing recovered and the urge to cough or giggle subsided. She slid her tongue against Ivy's, heard Ivy's little grunts of excitement, and felt her dick harden against Ivy's body as they embraced.

"Hah," Ivy pulled back. She looked up at Katharina, perhaps a little sheepishly, then giggled, "Oops. That was a bit hotter in my imagination."

Katharina tested the skin of her neck with her fingers, then swiped the back of her hand across it where she was wet, "Oh no, it was hot. You're hot. Let me just get, um, a more practical quantity of water down me then we can go if you like."

Ivy grinned and stepped aside. She held out her hand to let Katharina pass by her and take up place by the basin. Katharina bent to put her head in the recess, found the tap and opened her mouth. When the disappointingly tepid water hit her tongue she was for a moment surprised, then in turn surprised that she had not remembered that all the water here was warm.

The hot of the springs came to Katharina's awareness again. After coming down from the burning humidity of the sauna, Katharina's body was beginning to hum with a new wave of heat. The closeness to Ivy, their kiss, and in particular the anticipation that they would spend more time together, churned in Katharina's imagination. She could tell that she was beginning to sweat again, though it was difficult to distinguish the dampness of her own body from the settling steam of the baths. As she bent and drank, she was aware that she was presenting to Ivy behind her much the same view of her body that she had gotten of Ivy's moments before. She was taller than Ivy, and had to spread her legs, so Ivy could probably see more, Katharina's dick hanging down, heavy and half stiff, probably even at least a glimpse of her butthole. She wondered how that could possibly be attractive, then reminded herself how much she herself enjoyed seeing Ivy's body exposed, or another girl's. Still, it felt curious, different, to think of Ivy admiring her in the same way, so closely.

There came a brief whooshing sound by Katharina's shoulder, followed by a sudden stinging smack against one cheek of her backside, the clap against her skin ringing loudly in the echoing space of the spa chamber. Katharina jumped, and almost bumped her head against the roof of the recess where she was still bent and drinking. After a short silence, she heard Ivy's voice puff out a quiet 'heh' of mischief, then felt fingers gently gripping her balls from behind and shaking them playfully from side to side.

"Katja let's get in the water," Ivy called out as she walked away.

Katharina heard Ivy's feet plap against the stone. There followed a succession of two splashes, Ivy's legs descending into the pool.

Katharina took a final gulp, then breathed. She held her head in the quiet of the stone recess and let the refreshment of filling herself with water soak into her insides. She snorted and turned, stood up to see Ivy sitting in the pool, her head leaned back and eyes closed, wet hair sprawled across the little rim of tiles at the pool's edge.

As Katharina stepped across the wet stone floor, she felt conscious of herself again in a way that she had not for some time. She recalled her actions from moments before, approaching Ivy at the drinking fountain, touching her, and kissing her, and saw herself then as if she were only just now realizing what she had done. To her chagrin, Katharina winced as she thought of herself nuzzling her body against Ivy's back. She felt it ought to be inconsequential. It was just touching, kissing, things they had done already earlier. But despite herself it felt different that this time she had approached Ivy, and not the other way around. Katharina heard herself tut faintly behind her teeth, chiding herself. She told herself that she was taking the lead, taking something that she wanted, and when that thought occurred to her she realized that she should be proud, and happy, and she was.

She realized too that she was standing at the edge of the pool, staring out into the steam. She looked down and met Ivy's smile, looking up at her, head craned lazily back against the tiles. Ivy's hand reached out and crept around Katharina's ankle, ushering her forward. Katharina strode into the pool and staggered down onto the submerged ledge. The muscles of her calves were tired, a little tense. The heat of the pool water spread up and over her legs, and a balm of relaxation sank in through her skin. She breathed out slowly as she lowered her backside onto the ledge, the heat stinging pleasantly at the tight skin of her ballsack, then washing up through the crevice of her buttocks. She slumped forward, leaned back, and looked across at her friend.

Ivy had turned away. Her face was angled upward as if gazing at the ceiling, but her eyes were closed. Katharina was sorely conscious of how closely side by side they were sitting. Beneath the water, their thighs were just lightly in contact, touching but not quite pressing. Ivy's arm was resting back up out of the water across the lip of the pool, behind Katharina's shoulders but not across them. The closeness of Ivy's body spread a tingle of excitement over Katharina's skin.

It did not seem as if Ivy was preparing to say anything. Her lips seemed to be slowly squirming, her tongue caressing her teeth behind them, but idly, without purpose, drowsy or even drifting into the start of sleep. Then, eyes still closed, Ivy lifted her arm and ran her hand across her small spread breasts, just above the surface of the pool, washing a curtain of water over them and rubbing, cleaning herself. Katharina watched Ivy's nipples stiffen a little under the rub of her fingers.

"Ivy?" Katharina spoke quietly.

"Mm-hm."

Since finding Ivy again in the pool, Katharina had pondered telling her a little about what Vera had hinted at earlier, of Vera's advancement, or possible advancement, in the politics of the Sisterhood. Along with the new closeness she felt in her friendship with Ivy, the notion of Sisterhood affairs and its hierarchy had prompted Katharina to wonder about how she and Ivy might live as senior girls. She realized she did not know what Ivy thought of politics. So Katharina had found herself gradually but more insistently itching to know whether Vera had spoken to Ivy about the same topic, and even more than that to know whether Ivy even found it interesting at all.

"I was chatting to Miss Vera quite a bit, earlier," Katharina ventured.

Though her eyes remained closed, Ivy's face flexed into a frown of casual curiosity perhaps, or at least alertness. She spoke clearly, "Oh yeah? So what did you chat about?"

"She was talking about..." Katharina paused, and recollected, "Or well, I suppose she didn't say it totally outright. You know how she likes to just hint at things and not spell it out."

"Yeah," Ivy nodded, "Fucking annoying."

Katharina laughed, "Well, so she just hinted that there is something like an election or appointment to the Coven of Seven coming up. Tonight even, I think."

"Oh?" Ivy's eyelids lifted slowly open. She turned to Katharina, "And she's in line, is she?"

"She was telling you about it too?" Katharina asked.

Ivy rolled her eyes and chuckled, "No no, Katja. Don't worry, you're still her favorite. She never tells me that stuff. I guess she knows I don't really care."

"You don't?" Katharina swiftly hid the twitch of disappointment she felt crossing her face.

"Politics," Ivy sighed. It seemed she was going to end her explanation there, but then after a few more seconds she turned away and looked up at the ceiling again, "Bitching. All the bitching."

Katharina smiled and blew a little snort of laughter, "I sort of had the impression you liked bitching."

Ivy laughed and raised her head, "Okay, yeah, fair. But the fun kind. Not, like, actual whole sit-down-and-discuss-it meetings full of bitching."

Katharina's shoulders had begun to ache a little from resting against the hard lip of the pool. She heaved herself forward and sat up, "You don't think you'd like to be one of the Coven of Seven? Eventually, I mean, if you could."

Ivy leaned forward too. She turned to Katharina and frowned, "Okay, well, alright if you put it like that I kind of see what you mean. Having gangs of gorgeous dripping wet dmurrhisi begging you to fuck them all day."

"In between the meetings," Katharina chuckled.

"Right, I guess I could cope with a few meetings," Ivy nodded. Her eyes seemed to be focused above Katharina's shoulder, distant, as if in thought. She frowned again, "Or I dunno. Katja, have you ever thought about leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Like, it's great here and it, well..." Ivy glanced downward, coy, "It's a safe place, but maybe it would be cool also to take what we've learned here and just go. You know?"

"We...?" Katharina began formulating a question but then closed her lips, her thoughts thrown by Ivy's curious switch of tone. She looked at Ivy, still gazing past her, but was interrupted as soon as she had reopened her mouth.

There was a shriek, from somewhere through the steam away to their right. It wasn't obtrusively loud, more of a squeak of irritation than a cry, but it sounded quite close. And the voice was very high-pitched. Though brief, the cry punctured Katharina's thoughts and she turned instinctively to seek the source.

Before Katharina could scry anything from among the drifting wisps of steam, the same shriek sounded again, shriller. It was cut off by a heavy splash, the sound of a body abruptly colliding with the surface of the water. There was a thrashing swirl that whipped the steam aside, and then a first ripple of turbulence lapped up at Katharina's chest. She felt her floating breasts bob a little as a succession of small waves broke on her chest. The source of the splash felt close.

Then Katharina saw the neat outline of a drenched head protruding from the water some meters away. There followed a second splash from elsewhere, more precise, the sound of legs stepping deliberately into the water rather than falling. This was accompanied by a quiet, mocking laughter, evidently the voice of the second girl now descending into the pool after whoever had fallen.

The emerging head shook itself, and Katharina saw thick wet strands of very long hair flung in a whirl from side to side. The girl who had emerged from the water pulled the hair from her face and huffed a shrill growl, "Fucking bitch!"

"Come on," laughed the voice of the other girl, still out of sight among the vapor, "I get to use you for my entertainment, don't I? What were you hoping I'd do?"

"Not that," the first girl spat a short stream of water. Katharina could still not see her face, but she seemed to be quite short. Her neck was only just clear of the surface, and her long hair floated in a circle around her. "And not the other thing either," the girl continued, "You do not get to use me for anything."

"Hey! No fair," her partner now appeared as a slowly waxing and waning silhouette in the fog of steam, wading across to join the girl who, it seemed, she had just pushed into the pool. This second girl was taller, also with long hair. "I introduced you to her, didn't I? What you've been whining and begging me to do for you the whole time."

The shorter girl waded backwards, retreating as her partner approached, "You literally dumped me in her lap. That's not an introduction. She spilled her drink all over herself, and all over me!"

"Yeah," the taller girl grunted, "That was hot. Although... You're not really a wet t-shirt contest winner, are you?"

The shorter girl wrung out her hair and muttered something that Katharina could not discern.

"Wet panties contest, on the other hand...," the taller girl laughed, "Oh yeah am I looking forward to making those cheeks wobble!"

"In your dreams," the smaller girl continued to wade backwards.

"We'll see. Once she's actually given it to you, then it's definitely a deal. You will owe me, and I am coming to claim that giant fat ass of yours. It's mine, even if you're not."

As Katharina had been observing the puzzling exchange between the two other girls, something had begun to nag at her. A familiarity in the voice of the second, taller one, the one who had stepped into the pool after pushing the other. The voice was definitely one that she knew. What was distinctive about it was the peculiar incongruity between the characteristics of the voice itself, girlish, quite high-pitched, pleasantly mischievous, and the manner in which the girl spoke, rude and brusque, laughing as she tossed out crude insults.

Katharina turned to examine Ivy's face, to see whether she too had been looking out into the steam. Ivy turned simultaneously to Katharina and scowled.

"Yvonne," Katharina nodded quietly.

"Bitch balls," Ivy groaned beneath her breath. She brought her legs up onto the ledge and began creeping carefully up onto her feet, taking Katharina's wrist, "Let's go."

Katharina sat still, looked back out across the steamy surface of the water to the outline of Yvonne's head and shoulders. She prised Ivy's hand gently away, "It's okay. Sit down. Fuck her, we can use the pool if we want."

Against the heat that bathed her lower body, Katharina felt the cool flush of nervous readiness in her limbs. She turned away from Ivy and looked back at the two other girls standing out in the pool. There was a splash and a swift whirling eddy in the rising steam, which parted for a moment and revealed the floating carpet of the shorter girl's long hair on the surface before it submerged after her and she kicked and swam away.

Yvonne reached out with her arms and took one sluggish stride forward through the water, then stopped and swept her hands across the surface in irritation. She opened her mouth and after a pause called out, "She won't give it to you anyway."

Katharina kept her eyes on Yvonne but felt the movement of Ivy's body beside her, clambering back down into the pool to sit close. Katharina smiled to herself, relieved. She did not want to seem to be compelling Ivy to stay, but she disliked even more the idea of retreating. It was the prospect of their carrying with them the unspoken knowledge of their shared cowardice that unsettled her, Katharina worried that the embarrassment might dispel the fragile intimacy that had developed between them.

"Okay," Ivy whispered, "Whatever. Fuck it."

Katharina sat and watched, letting her leg brush against Ivy's as they both waited. It seemed very probable that Yvonne would notice them now that the other girl had departed. Katharina could see clearly Yvonne's face and shoulders as the steam shifted, the puckered lips of an angry scowl, the strands of dark hair across her forehead. Yet some moments passed while Yvonne stood and sighed, swirling her arms in the pool and muttering. Katharina realized that she was instinctively holding her breath, as if to avoid drawing Yvonne's attention, which seemed jarringly at odds with her insistence that they stay put and stand their ground.

Then Katharina startled as Ivy suddenly called out, "Yeah very smooth. She was all over you, haha."